Dawn of a New Day
by Hayden Lucas
Summary: Carly and Sam have been together in excess of twenty years. Their twins are beginning their Senior Year at Ridgeway High. How does the Puckett family deal with impending tectonic shift on the horizon?
1. iAm Haunted

"…_Aloft Airlines welcomes you aboard our non-stop flight from Seattle to Florence… Our approximate flight time will be eleven hours and thirty-one minutes…"_

"…_Good evening everyone, this is your pilot speaking…"_

Carly shut her laptop. She couldn't watch anymore. It was simply _too hard_. She felt that familiar tightness in her chest. She knew what was about to happen and she knew she couldn't stop it, even if she wanted to. This was just _too difficult_. Her heart was racing. Her palms were slick. She knew very, very well what was next.

"…_Mehhh…"_

The Colonel had been away so long that he couldn't fully appreciate what she was feeling.

"…_Mehhh!..."_

The Colonel was concerned, but he was at a loss. He touched his daughter on the hand. He was doing his best.

"Sweetheart?..."

Carly didn't answer. She had begun hyperventilating. The flight was still boarding, so she made the only play she could. She _was_, of course, the daughter of a military officer. He had raised her to see things from his point of view. This was different, however. There was no time for military strategy. Carly Shay was not – at this moment – a human being. She was simply a high-order primate who felt threatened. This was biology at its most basic. This was _Fight or Flight_, literally. She chose to flee.

In a rush, she undid her seatbelt, grabbed her laptop, and headed into the aisle, toward the front of the plane. There was no turning back now, not that she wanted to. She simply ran until her circumstances changed. She could hear her father calling after her, but she didn't care.

"Carly… Carly! _Carly!_..."

The beautiful brunette ran, clutching her laptop to her chest. She sobbed, though she didn't take any notice of the fat tears rolling down her cheeks. She no longer cared. She fought for breath as she raced the wrong way through the concourse, past airport security, and she did not stop until she had nowhere else to run. She hit the doors, which electronically slid open and out of her way.

She was now out in the open air. She finally felt like she could breathe. She was out in the cold, crisp, fog was was her beloved Seattle. It was cold and rainy and beautiful and she had no idea what possessed her to ever want to leave. She stood there a long moment, trying to catch her breath when she saw it.

_A jet black 1964 Sterling motorcycle sat idling at the door, its rider screaming at the airport cop, who threatened to have the bike impounded if it didn't move immediately._

Carly didn't stop running until the rider had dismounted the bike and was holding her tight. The brunette sobbed into chest and shoulder and jacket sleeves.

"I… I just couldn't….I…"

A familiar voice came, the rider's face partially obscured by riding goggles. Carly didn't need to see. She knew. She talked over the cyclist. She needed to be heard.

"Drive…drive… drive… get me outta here…"

The cyclist corrected her.

"_This_ is a motorcycle… you don't really _'drive'…_"

"Whatever! Drive, make it go, _whatever!..."_

Sam Puckett smiled a familiar, slick, stupid grin.

"…Away we go, Cupcake…"

* * *

Carly sat bolt upright in bed. She was sweating profusely. She cried, the world of her dreams still commingled with the present. She was terrified, but the real world hadn't yet come into focus.

"SAMMMM!"

Sam Puckett was still half asleep, but she did what needed to be done. She wrapped her naked wife in her arms, her hands coming to rest below Carly's breastbone. She pulled naked Carly to her, soothing her with gentle words.

"_Shhh, Cupcake… go back to sleep… Mama's right here… It was just a dream, not real…"_

Except that it had been real. It had happened. That was the single moment that Carly realized that she needed to be with Sam, though she hadn't yet put a name to her feelings. It was the turning point in Carly's relationship with her father. Carly wasn't certain what her feelings meant, but she thought she knew.

Sam Puckett held Carly tight. She knew what this was. This was Carly's routine nightmare, followed by one of her Cupcake's panic attacks.

"_Carls, shush… it's okay… I promise you…"_

Carly rocked, but Sam held her safe and sound.

"_Cupcake, it's me… it's okay…"_

Carly thought she was coming unglued. She was regressing, but this wasn't uncommon, Sam knew. If Carly needed to suck her thumb for a few minutes in order for things to subside, she knew it was alright. She brought Carly up to speed.

"_Carls, it's okay… you're home safe with me, our girls are asleep down the hall, just the same way it's been for years… it's okay, honey…"_

Carly's breathing had begun to sound relatively normal again. Sam knew what she needed to do. She reached for her cell phone on the bedside table along her side of the bed.

"Relax, Cupcake, Mama promises it'll be okay. I'm gonna call The Doc, okay?"

Carly nodded, knowing Sam had her best interests at heart. She allowed herself to fall back into her pillows, but snuggled herself into Sam, allowing their bodies to come together again. This felt perfect. She was home.

Sam waited for the phone to be answered. She felt awful in waking Carly's shrink at seven in the morning on a Saturday, but her wife was what was important.

"…_This is Doctor Niles Crane…"_

"…'_ey, Doc, Sam Puckett… Sorry about, you know, wakin' you, but… yeah, uh-huh…"_

Sam finished consulting with Carly's doctor. She had made an appointment for later in the day, as usual, for the doctor's home office in one of Seattle's most prestigious high rise condominiums. The doctor preferred things this way, and Sam wasn't one to argue.

_**HALF AN HOUR LATER…**_

Carly was finishing in the shower off the master bedroom. Sam knew very well that the warm water relaxed her wife after an incident like this. She turned her attention away from her phone call and shouted over the running water in the direction of the master bathroom.

"Okay in there, Cupcake?"

The water cut off. Sam could hear the distinctive rustling of towel over beautiful, wet, dark hair. _God, how she wanted to be on the other side of the bathroom door at this very moment._

A brief moment later, Sam heard the sound that brought a song to her heart.

Carly was giggling.

"Yeah… I'm good, thanks… are my glasses still out there, on the thingy?..."

Sam chuckled, returning to her phone call for a brief moment.

"…_Gotta run… Carls is gettin' outta the shower… yeah, yeah, whatever… Bye…"_


	2. iFamily Therapy

Carly fussed at Sam, despite knowing that Sam had her best interests at heart.

"Samantha, _honestly_, I really don't see – …"

Sam interrupted. She was used to this. There were simply times when her precious Cupcake was ridiculous.

"Carls, _Sweetheart…_ I don't think it's that _unreasonable…_"

"_Oh, you WOULD say that!"_

Carly realized that her tone was harsher and more clipped than she'd ever intended. She knew that Sam meant well. All Sam wanted was what was best for Carly, and she knew it.

"Sam, I'm…"

Sam Puckett held her precious little brunette. She knew how overwrought her Cupcake could get. She wanted Carly to know that everything would all be okay.

Carly buried her face in Sam's shoulder. She loved Sam more than anything in the world. She could feel her eyes tearing up again, but she didn't want Sam to see. She began singing. It was what soothed her. It took just a moment, but Sam finally understood.

"…_I might be crazy…"_

"…_but have I told you lately…"_

"…_That I love you?..."_

"…_You're the only reason…"_

"…_That I'm not afraid to fly…"_

Moments later, four teenagers meandered into the Pucketts' living room. Carly surveyed the four young female faces. It finally dawned on her that Sam had taken some liberties with the term _'Family Therapy'_.

"Oh No, Sam… I didn't say this was okay…"

Sam Puckett simply kissed the brunette on the crown on her head. She was sarcastic, but in that sweet _Sam_ sort of way.

"Oh yeah, Cupcake… like we'll get rid of them _that_ easily…"

_**A SHORT WHILE LATER…**_

The door opened and the tall, slight, well-manicured man admitted them to his home, which also served as the office for his psychiatry practice. He smiled at the brunette who had been his patient for years. He gently touched her on the arm, welcoming them inside.

"Hello, Carly… Hello, Sam…"

Carly smiled. Sam nodded, speaking for them both.

"'ey, Doc… you know our girls…"

Doctor Niles Crane smiled at the two blonde girls, who bore a striking resemblance to Carly's partner. Each of the young ladies escorted another young woman inside. Carly and Sam held hands as they followed the good doctor through his home into his private study and office.

Carly took a seat on the sofa, as per usual, with Sam settling in beside her. Ashley and the redhead took side-by-side chairs, while Melanie and Bridget cozied up on the adjacent loveseat. Doctor Crane, for his part, simply sat back, scribbling on his notepad. He knew Carly's history very well, having seen her since her teens. He spoke softly, asking simple questions and making general statements. He didn't want to break confidentiality in even the slightest respect. Her spouse and children were here.

"Carly, Sam told me you were having nightmares… am I correct in assuming it is the same one you've shared with me recently…" The doctor paused, not sure of how to continue. He finally found a way that would not compromise his ethics.

"…about your father and that flight?..."

Carly nodded, barely giving the words voice.

"Y-ye-yes.."

Sam patted Carly's knee as she typically did.

"It's cool, Cupcake… We're all here for ya…"

Carly swallowed hard. She recounted the story from memory, as best she could. She looked across the room, locking eyes with her eldest daughter. She wanted her girls to know the truth. This was _her_ truth – Carly's and Carly's alone. This truth was – indirectly – at the core of her girl's lives. If nothing else, she needed _them_ to understand.

"I… I… I wanted _so badly_ to make my Dad happy, especially since he'd been gone for so long. When he said he was leaving the same night, my brain kind of left my head, and I was so desperate to make the Colonel happy, I said I'd go… and… and…"

Carly choked up. It still pained her deeply, even after all these years. Sam knew, instinctively patting the brunette's knee, picking up the story from its most important part – the climax.

"…and next thing I know, this beautiful brunette mess was running out of SeaTac and hopping onto the back of my motorcycle…"

Identical pretty blonde mouths hung wide open. For the first time in years, they operated as one symbiotic mind, finishing each other's statement.

"Motor...?"

"…cycle?..."

Sam and Carly both chuckled. Sam's face broke into a broad smile.

"There's a lotta things I used to do that you two don't know about…"

Carly giggled, poking Sam playfully in the stomach. She didn't particularly care that they had an audience. She felt happy again.

She continued talking. It felt good to clear the air. Having her doctor and her family here made it easier to speak her mind. She knew her girls would never judge her.

_**A SHORT WHILE LATER…**_

Doctor Niles Crane continued to scribble his notes, glancing up briefly to offer a nod or a smile to whichever member of the group was speaking. He let Bridget Xi finish speaking, asking his next question of her in fluent Korean. The young girl glared across the room at the muscley redhead.

"SEE? He knows the difference…"

Megan, obviously playing around, smirked. She was her gruff, typical self.

"Yeah, yeah… you're Korean, I get it…"

The doctor, sensing even playful animosity between the two, asked a question of Megan. It was what he did best.

"Miss Marx, do you ever feel any undue frustration or anger towards Miss Xi here? It seems that you may be suffering from what we call Transference… Are you sure you don't have any issues you might care to resolve?"

Megan blushed slightly. She blushed simply because the words finally sunk into her brain. The wheels were beginning to turn.

"Transfer—whoa, whoa, whoa… like I've got a thing for her, so I give her hell? Yeah, no, not so much…"

The doctor did his best to backtrack, but he let the young girl talk.

"I've busted her chops since we were kids, but we're cool now, really…"

_**A SHORT WHILE LATER…**_

The doctor had concluded their session. Carly and Sam had agreed that they would get together again in a few weeks time, should things not resolve themselves. Those were the least of Carly's worries at present. She hoped her eyes were playing tricks on her, but she couldn't be sure. All she knew was she recognized that way that her little girl was fidgeting, her fingers intertwining with her girlfriend's. She didn't yet know what, but she knew that _something_ was up.


	3. iKeep Things Bottled Up

It was a typical Wednesday morning at Ridgeway High School. The first bell had just rung, students were milling about in the hallways. It took Megan Marx all of thirty seconds to go from zero to completely wazzed off. She rounded the corner, heading towards her girlfriend's locker and totally lost it.

Instead of her pretty blonde, she had walked up on David Sharkey and his spacey redheaded girlfriend, joined at the face.

"_JESUS!_ What is it with you two? You think I wanna go blind?"

They stopped momentarily. A loose, flirty smile crossed Trina Shapiro's face, as though she had been completely oblivious to the fact that the champion cage fighter had been standing right there.

"Ooooh, Hey…"

Megan grumbled. It wasn't as though the straight couple offended her with their straight-people love, it was simply that she was in a bad mood. She was perturbed, solely because her girl wasn't here. She was going all wiggy inside, but, to her, it all made perfect sense.

The Puckett girls rounded the corner, much more chummy and chatty than usual – at least at school. They babbled to each other in their own way. It was simply a twin thing. The girls walked together, something of an unlikely pair, in that they were so different. They babbled to one another, completely unconcerned with the world at large. They had finally – like their mama and aunt before them – found common ground with one another and could relate to each other not only as sisters, but as grown, mini-adult versions of themselves. In one another, they had legitimately found a person besides their partner to enjoy on a somewhat intimate level – someone with whom to share secrets and one who could be trusted with anything under heaven itself.

Ashley Puckett didn't completely realize what had happened until it had. Before she knew what had hit her, she had been snatched up in big, muscley arms and lifted her off her feet. The blonde didn't mind the attention by any means, although the fact that she was getting it at school , scared the ever-loving chizz out of her.

"Megan… _Jeez_… what gives?!"

The fighter held her close, pressing her mouth to the pretty blonde girl's ear. She whispered to her, the way she typically did when they were all alone and the lights were out.

_"I love you so much… you need to understand… I can't do all of this without you…"_

This wasn't the Megan Marx that she knew; Ashley was afraid for her. She let herself be held. She didn't care if her sister heard.

"Honey… you're scaring me… what's this about?"

"I just… it's… I love you…"

Ashley understood that much.

"Megan, talk to me, Sweety…"

Melanie Puckett interrupted. She felt that she needed to be the voice of reason.

"Uh, you two _do realize_ that you're at school, _right_?"

Megan Marx shot the Nerd a harsh glare. Melanie could read the fighter's eyes.

"_Alright…_ I'll wait for Bridget over there, _Shoosh…_"

It didn't take Melanie's genius-level IQ to see what was going on. Something – she wasn't entirely sure _what_ just yet – was eating at the redhead from the inside. She wasn't sure entirely where it started, but she knew that it involved her sister. Though they never spoke of it aloud, the Puckett twins – like Mama and Mythical Melanie before them – were everything to one another.

Melanie spotted her own precious little partner some fifteen feet away. She ran to her, giving her a dainty, non-descript hug. It was no secret that they were a couple, but she also felt that there was _something_ to be said for discretion. She absolutely had to talk to Bridget. Unlike Megan Marx, Melanie and Bridget kept no secrets from one another.

**_LATER THAT DAY…_**

Melanie picked at her lunch grumpily. It had taken her half of Physics and both study halls before she deduced what was going on, but much like one of her favorite literary characters – Conan Doyle's famous detective – she'd cracked it, and it was exactly as Sir Arthur had said it would be. _ "When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."_

Bridget held Melanie's hand. They both could tell that Megan was staring at her. Melanie poked her salad with her fork.

"What do you want, Megan?"

The redhead grumbled a curse under her breath. Melanie felt snarky.

"You know I speak four languages and have a 168 IQ, right? I _can _hear you…"

The eyes that looked up at her, radiating hurt, weren't dark and set in a tanned, olive-toned face. They were bright blue.

The implication was perfectly clear. This wasn't to be discussed.

"Uh… Look, Megan… I'm sorry about… whatever's going on…"

Bridget Xi had had enough.

"You're all being dumb… whatever's going on, you're all… look, I love you all…"

Bridget paused, locked eyes with the fighter, and smirked.

"…okay, so maybe I don't love _you_… but anyway… we're all friends and we can trust each other…"

Across the table, Megan bowed her head. She inhaled deeply. She was all whipped up, but knew fully well that this wasn't the time or place for any of it. She knew the little nerds would understand – they were good like that – they would find out why she was all wazzed off, but it wouldn't matter. The nerds would tell her it was all okay, and even better, they would make it so.

**_LATER THAT EVENING AT THE PUCKETT HOME…_**

Carly spoke to Sam in a hushed tone in the kitchen. The more things changed, the more they truly had stayed the same.

"…Dammit, Sam… if I knew, I'd tell you, Honey!..."

"Carls, don't you think you might just be blowing this a little bit out of proportion?"

Carly didn't think so.

"Sammm..."

Sam had to smile. Carly made it just _too_ easy.

"Ya know what, Cupcake? You're kinda cute when you whine, but it's really not ladylike…"

Sam poked Carly gently in the navel. It was what she did in private, behind closed doors, when her Cupcake needed to lighten up. Carly giggled quietly. She knew that Sam loved her. The blonde spoke quietly. This needed to stay between them.

"Just let this drop, okay, Carls? Mama's got this…"

Sam pulled the brunette close, kissing the crown of her head.

**_MOMENTS LATER…_**

Megan Marx walked through the living room, ready to head down the hallway that led to the twins' shared bedroom, where she and Carly and Sam's eldest had plans to _'study'_. The problem – at least for the redhead – was that this wasn't home to a normal family. This house was home to Seattle's only invisible ninja.

A slender hand clamped down on the redhead's shoulder.

"Uh, not so fast there, Missy…. _We_ gotta talk…"

This was clearly not Megan's day. She mumbled to herself. Unfortunately for the prizefighter, Sam Puckett had the hearing of a hunting dog.

"What was that?"

"_…Oh chizz…"_

Megan knew it would be a long night.


	4. iSearch My Soul

Megan barely slept that night. Truth be told, had it not been for her rugrat little sister, the teenaged redhead wouldn't have slept at all.

She had gone to bed that night with a headache – the product of a twenty five minute lecture by Sam Puckett. She'd gone to bed with a headache, three aspirin, a Peppy Cola, and emptiness on the side of the bed where Sam's daughter typically slept on those rare nights when Megan herself wasn't sacked out at the Puckett house.

Going to bed without the pretty blonde girl next to her made Megan Marx antsy. When she was antsy, she didn't sleep worth a lick.

She woke up that morning to find that her Mama's little rugrat – footie PJs and all – snuggled contentedly into what Megan had long considered to be her partner's side of the bed. She knew exactly why this happened. The little ankle-biter could get in the way sometimes, sure, but the fact was that they were blood. She might complain about the little girl to anyone who'd listen – usually someone named Puckett – but the inescapable fact of the matter was that they were family and that Megan loved her little sis more than just about anything in the world.

She rolled on her hip and kissed the little girl on the crown of her head, just as their parents had always done when she was small. If the toddler could crawl into Megan's bed and make herself cozy, there was no reason to wake her unnecessarily. Quietly, she rolled away from the sleepy child and exited her bedroom as quietly as she could.

_**MEANWHILE, AT THE PUCKETT HOME…**_

The Puckett twins chatted warmly over breakfast. It warmed Carly's heart to see her girls getting along so well. She smiled as Sam took her seat. She sipped her juice, Sam's fingers dancing in hers. She turned her attention to her girls. The twins were lost in their own conversation. Carly couldn't help eavesdropping. She chuckled quietly, listening to her girls babble amongst themselves.

"…what's with that friend of yours? That chick you set him up with is just freakin' special…"

"…Oh, _do shut up_… she's sweet and they're happy and besides, she's less touched in the head than that butch chick…"

Carly rolled her eyes. She could sense that this was all in good fun, but Sam was less than happy. The blonde slammed her coffee cup down a bit harder than intended, clearing her throat for effect. It was up to Carly to pacify Mama.

"Oh, Sam… _stop_…"

"Cupcake, I…" Sam stopped, grumbling to herself.

The twins were clueless, though they knew they were certainly missing something. Melanie, not wanting to pick a fight, returned her attention to her eggs.

Sam Puckett was still whipped up, though she tried – and failed— to keep it all inside.

"…_Stupid kid… doesn't have the sense that God gave to geese, sometimes… doesn't listen to me… doesn't listen worth a damn…"_

Carly slapped Sam's hand.

"Samantha, _stoppit_…"

Carly was deeply embarrassed. She loved Sam more than life, although she knew her heart was in the right place. She enjoyed the fact that they could still have breakfast as a family, but was disappointed that her wife didn't know when to keep her trap shut. She knew her daughter could piece things together. She wasn't five years old anymore. She put on a brave face, smiling brightly to her girls, deftly changing the subject.

"So… anything exciting going on at school today?"

_**RIDGEWAY HIGH, LATER THAT DAY…**_

Megan flounced down in her chair. Ashley immediately knew something was wrong. Megan's eyes were red and puffy. She hadn't been punched, though it certainly felt that way. The blonde took her hand beneath the table. They spoke to one another in barely a whisper.

"Talk to me, Champ…"

"It's nothing…"

"It's something…"

"I _said_ it's nothing… let it go…"

The blonde wasn't happy about it, but she did as her partner asked. She knew when to push the issue and when not to. She simply returned to her lunch. It had been a typical day up to this point, but things were now officially weird. Across the table, tiny Bridget Xi glared at Megan, two pairs of dark eyes meeting. Neither girl said a word, but Bridget knew something wasn't quite right. She looked away from the fighter, returning her attention to her chicken salad, which she stabbed with a fork. Bridget's mind wandered, floating back and forth between the pretty blonde whose had she'd held all throughout study hall right before lunch and the video chat she had planned after school with her half-sister, half a world away. They had begun to become close, finally forming the familial bond Bridget had dreamed of for years. She now had more than one family. She hoped to God that all the fragments of her family – her mother, her biological family, her friends, and her partner could all coalesce into one big, happy blended family someday. That would mean the world to her. She let her mind wander, spurred by the gentle touch of her partner's fingers on her wrist. Whatever this thing was that had gotten Megan's knickers in a twist, it could wait until later. Bridget had mentally gone off to her Happy Place. The world could turn without her for a few minutes.

_**AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER…**_

Megan Marx had skipped out on one of her few free periods – typically spent in study hall, feigning interest in whatever subject she was slacking off in at the time, while daydreaming about her future – and had locked herself in the far stall of the second floor ladies' room. She simply needed her space. She knew her girlfriend and the nerds would understand, but this wasn't their problem. This was about her and her alone. On the outside, she was the stone-cold prizefighter, groomed by former champion Shelby Marx to be the best in the world at what she did. On the inside, however, she was, of course, nothing more than a scared teenaged girl, digging for the answers until her fingers bled, trying like hell to find her own way in the world, pursuing her own happiness.

Her brain realized the answer before the rest of her. Her cell phone was ringing in her ear, connecting her to a number her brain didn't recall dialing. She, of course, would know the voice anywhere. She could tell by the slightest inhalation of breath. No words had to be said. The tears she had fought to hold back all day finally broke free. She lapsed into Spanish, not wanting anyone else to eavesdrop on such a heartfelt moment.

"…_Papi…?"_


	5. iGo Into the Night

Sam Puckett collapsed into the sofa upon returning home from the restaurant that night. She snuggled close to Carly, who was intent on watching the evening news on Channel 5.

"I love you, Carls…"

"I know…"

"…I don't tell you enough…"

"…Yes, you do…"

Sam's arm wound around the brunette's waist. She was home. Life was good again.

"Long night?" Carly asked.

Sam groaned. Her muscles hurt. Her bones hurt. She hurt in places she had forgotten she had.

"You have _no idea_, Cupcake…"

Sam exhaled. She was _extremely_ tired. Carly did her best to be a good wife and take Sam's mind off things. She leaned close and kissed the blonde enthusiastically on the mouth.

Moments later, her head still swimming, Sam, now wide awake, broke the kiss, all smiles.

"…Uh… _whoa_! Where'd that come from?"

Carly grinned.

"You deserved it. Things okay… you know… at work?"

Carly, of course, meant nothing at all by the comment. She simply wanted to be sure that Sam clearly understood that she cared. They had been together for long enough that certain things simply went without saying. Sam smiled. She knew her Cupcake was concerned for all the right reasons.

"Yeah, things are fine… I'm glad I have the girls there… at least I know they aren't up to a buncha mess…"

Carly smirked. She knew exactly where this was going. Sam had a big heart, and the sole purpose of putting Megan Marx and Bridget Xi on the payroll was to give them some pocket money while looking out for them at the same time.

Carly playfully poked Sam's navel.

"_Oh yeah... they're such troublemakers…"_

Sam grinned.

"You asked about my day, so I told ya…"

"Don't be a smart-ass, Samantha…"

Sam mocked Carly playfully. This earned a hard stare from the brunette.

"Somebody _wants_ to sleep on the couch tonight?"

Sam knew Carly wasn't serious – that threat never was. It was late and they were being silly for the sake of silliness. She gave her wife a playful shove in the shoulder, mussing the brunette's hair in the process.

That tore it. Carly wasn't playing around anymore. She turned her head ever so slightly, her deep chocolate brown eyes meeting Sam's sleep-deprived blues.

"_LOOK, Sam…_" Carly said, an edgy tone in her voice, "…it's late and I'm not in the mood for games… you'd better be in the shower in five minutes or else…"

Carly's reading glasses slipped down her nose, making Sam smile. Carly was cute when she was nerdy.

"…or else what, Carlotta?" Sam used Carly's full name solely to get a rise out of her.

"…_Or else_ Someone's Little Cupcake may not join her…"

Sam didn't need to be told twice. She was whipped. She was off like a shot to take a late shower and unwind for the evening.

_**MEANWHILE, ACROSS TOWN…**_

It was late, and Bridget Xi wanted to pamper herself, even a little. She had just enjoyed a nice, hot bubble bath after her shift at _Il Terrazzo Carmine_. She had had just enough time to come home from school, video chat with family in Korea, change clothes, and head out to work. Now was her time. She settled into bed, lounging around in her most comfortable PJs, turning her attention to the anime playing on her TV. It was one of her favorite shows – originally from Japan, but dubbed in English. For her own edification, she was watching the show with Korean subtitles.

Just as she was getting engrossed in the story, she heard the buzzer going off incessantly in the living room. It was well past bed time in the Xi household, and certainly neither Bridget nor her mother had any intention of receiving visitors. The buzzing at the front door stopped, followed by Karen Xi cursing in their native tongue. Bridget had absolutely no idea what to expect, but never in her wildest imagining had this scenario even been on the radar.

"Outta the way, old lady…"

Bridget felt queasy. Megan Marx had just barged into her home.

_**A SHORT WHILE LATER…**_

Bridget stood there, aghast. She had no idea what was going on, but if she was going to face this nightmare at this hour of the night, she would certainly do it in her robe and slippers. She made her way to the hall, blocking off her bedroom from the rest of the house. She spoke to her mother in terse, yet apologetic Korean, saying how sorry she was and to head to bed, she would deal with this matter. Karen Xi, for her part, had come to accept her daughter just as she was – there was no changing her, straight, gay, petulant teenager, or anywhere in between, she'd come to realize just what a lovely young woman her daughter was. She decided now wasn't the time, they would speak in the morning. She bid her daughter good night, all the while glancing disdainfully at the ridiculous girl who had interrupted her nighttime reading.

Bridget glared across her darkened living room at the thin, muscular redhead. She asked the only question that readily came to mind.

"_WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!"_

Megan, still clad in her motorcycle jacket, inhaled deeply. She felt manic. She knew in the pit of her stomach that she wasn't being logical, but turned to this girl solely because it was what made sense in her snap-decision, half-logical, manic state of mind.

"Uh… look, I know I give you shit and whatever, but I had nowhere else to go… I just… um… I just need to talk…"

Bridget grumbled, cursing the stupid redheaded girl in Korean under her breath and stamping her foot. She realized immediately that it would have carried more weight, had she not been wearing pink bunny slippers.

"_FINE…whatever…c'mon… come to my room, then… I should be sleeping…"_

Megan knew that the little eggroll wanted so badly to be pissed, but it simply wasn't in her nature. She was thankful for that. At this very second, she wished that she could take back every harsh, hurtful, snide comment she'd ever leveled at the pretty Korean girl. She was thankful that Bridget didn't hold grudges.

_**A SHORT WHILE LATER…**_

Megan felt nauseous; both because of what was going on inside her head, but also because Bridget's bedroom reminded her of a library that had the essence of _'girly girl'_ explode all over it. She settled into the pillows on the far side of Bridget's bed, taking a mental inventory of the little nerd's personal space.

Bridget spoke up.

"So why the hell are you here again, exactly?"

Megan figured she deserved that much.

"It's weird…"

"Weirder than you being here at almost midnight, butching up my girlfriend's side of the bed?"

Megan chuckled. Give her hell as she did, she had to admit, the little nerd had a sense of humor.

"… I guess not, but still… you'd think I'm weird…"

Bridget was snarky, but playful. She'd learned a lot from the Pucketts, though she'd been an only child herself.

"I already do, so just out with it, already…"

Megan broke into a broad smile for the first time in days.

"Okay, well, it's like this…"

_**A SPIRITED HEART TO HEART TALK LATER…**_

Bridget was now convinced that those _'routine'_ blows to the head had done something to the girl's gray matter. She was being stupid and had gotten herself all whipped up over what the only certified genius in the room saw as nothing.

"You're seriously all worked up over _that_?!"

"Yo, it's kinda a thing…"

"It's college… and besides, she loves you… do you really think you won't get in? You're smart…"

It was a shock to Megan's system. The little nerd had just called her smart. That was a huge thing. Logically, Megan knew she wasn't dumb, but she never felt like people took her seriously. She wanted to change the subject. She turned her attention back to Bridget's subtitled anime.

"…So who's this chick and why is there a panda following her around every place?"

Bridget wanted to crack her in the head, but also knew the fighter wasn't a fan-girl like she was.

"That _chick_, as you so eloquently put it, is Ranma Saotome, and that panda is her father…"

"Her father's a bear?"

Bridget groaned.

"Just watch… it'll make sense if you just pay attention…"

Megan shrugged. She didn't understand, but she was willing to give Bridget the benefit of the doubt. Bridget knew fully well that it was too late to send Megan out into the Seattle night, so she did what she knew was the right thing.

"You can stay the night… it's not safe for you to be out at this hour, riding that god-awful thing around…"

Bridget waited a long moment for a response before realizing one wasn't going to be forthcoming. Megan Marx had fallen asleep and was chewing on Bridget's pillow.


	6. iAnxiety

That morning was outside the norm at RidgewayHigh School. The Puckett twins were running late, so they arrived at their lockers that morning to find their respective partners already waiting for them, bickering back and forth in hushed tones. Waking up in Bridget Xi's girly little fortress of solitude threw Megan Marx for a loop. Having to ride to school with her arms would tightly around the fighter's midsection had left Bridget in a right unpleasant state. The fighter grumbled under her breath. The twins rounded the corner just in time to catch Bridget's response, though they had no idea what they'd missed.

_"…I wouldn't have had to take a cold shower if your ass would've hurried up this morning…"_

Both blondes looked to one another, knowing they had missed something. It was Ashley who spoke up, locking eyes with her pretty redhead.

"Uh, _honey…_?"

Bridget's arms were crossed in front of her chest. She was pouting.

"Your _stupid girlfriend_ crashed at my place last night… used all my warm water this morning… I froze to death…"

Ashley laughed. Her sister didn't find the situation quite so amusing.

"…AND?!..."

Megan jumped in, half-afraid that the quiet Asian girl would 'out' her all over again, spilling her quiet secrets out here in public.

"…and nothing, _Nerd_…"

Bridget chewed her lower lip, grumbling at Megan through gritted teeth.

"…redheaded Neanderthal…"

The twins knew that there was more to this story, but the first bell meant that explanations had to wait.

**_ELSEWHERE IN THE EMERALD CITY…_**

Sam Puckett paced her living room. She was glad that she'd sent Carly out on something of a wild goose chase this morning. She loved her wife more than words, but some things simply needed to stay between sisters.

"Oh, Samantha, please… you're being melodramatic…"

Sam didn't think so. She huffed and puffed a moment, stamped her foot, and cursed under her breath. This was proving harder than she had otherwise anticipated. Her sister led a charmed life, although she certainly knew well the heartache that had come before. She knew that Freddie's sweet little mythical one would hear her out and would never judge her.

"Dammit, Mel…"

Melanie Benson couldn't help but smirk. She was feeling playful.

"Oh, that's right, Sam… cursing at me will help the situation…"

Sam knew her sister was giving her sass for the sake of sass.

"Look… it's like this…"

Mythical Melanie interrupted.

"_Sam…_ I get it…"

Melanie truly did. Despite Sam's grumbling, she knew very well what this was about.

"Look, Kid… it's not as easy as ya think… kids and Carls and…"

"…you think my two kids and married life is all sunshine and rainbows?"

Sam snickered. It took her sister to talk some sense into her – to make her see the light.

"You know, y'aint so bad, Princess…"

This was Sam's way of calling things a draw – saving face without admitting defeat – although, of course, her perfect little sister would never hold anything over her. Sam's perfect twin had never inherited the capacity for spite. Sam knew that they needed to talk. Her life with Carly was wonderful indeed, although her precious little Cupcake was prone to flying off the handle a time or two. Sam knew that for things to end appropriately, she needed her twin.

A glance from one to the other. Telepathy was, at times, exceedingly useful. Melanie Benson smirked.

"I'll put a pot of coffee on, Samantha…"

**_MEANWHILE, AT THE RIDGEWAY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT UNION…_**

Melanie Puckett had completely tuned out her girlfriend, her sister, and the redhead. Something wasn't quite right here. She noticed this thing before, but swore that her brain was simply playing tricks on her. That had to be it. There was no other reason for it. She applied the steadfast principles of science to the situation and expected the basic result – _X was true because of Y_. She knew she had failed her parents. She couldn't help but give off that 'thousand yard stare' common to prison inmates – her brain was locked on the task of solving the complex equation in front of her. That was, invariably, until her sister interrupted her.

"Uh, Mel?..."

The quiet girl's brain slipped back into gear, betraying the fact that she had drifted off.

"…Hey! What? Fine… Nothing…"

"Ummm…. Ooookay…."

The studious blonde covered her tracks as best she could. Like Carly, she was a terrible liar. Bridget patted her hand. Things were okay again. The pretty Korean girl made everything okay. She always had and always would. Melanie took a deep breath and chose to speak.

"Nevermind… I… uh, you know…"

Ashley had more than an idea. Her sister was burning the proverbial candle at both ends, studying and applying to every school under the sun, though, of course, she had no need to. She and her little eggroll were clearly destined for the Ivy League.

"Yeah, I know… you study too damn hard. Take a break once in a while and… you know, let your hair down a little…"

Melanie smirked. Her sister had missed the mark entirely.

"Yeah, I know…"

Below the table, Megan Marx's fingers danced in her girlfriend's palm. She was happy once again. Life was good.

**_BACK AT THE PUCKETT RESIDENCE…_**

Sam's sister had departed quietly, with a hug, a smile, and that dainty kiss on the cheek that women reserve solely for other women. She was off to be a mom. There were small children to pick up. She excused herself moments after Carly had come home and taken a turn down the hall. It had taken Sam a good long moment before she realized that Carls hadn't headed straight down the hall and into the master suite, but had instead taken a hard right, letting herself in to the girls' shared bedroom. She knew that this was a recipe for disaster. They had had this talk four or five times previously. Carly the overprotective mother hen – despite Sam's own protests – was back to snooping through the girls' drawers for secrets kept from parents simply due to the fact that they were teenaged girls. Teenaged girls kept secrets. There was no simpler explanation than that.

Sam let out an audible sigh before springing to her feet.

"Caaaarlsssss!… You promisedddd… Knock that off…"

Sam Puckett knew that Carly's heart was in the right place. As a parent, you wanted to protect your babies from anything in the world that could harm them, regardless of how old they were. That said, she also knew that whatever might be found in the dark recesses of dresser drawers, their kids were inherently good. Whatever Carly _thought_ she might find didn't exist in the real world. Whatever secrets their girls kept, they paled in comparison to whatever scary things existed in Carly's brain.

The kids could keep secrets, so far as Sam was concerned – Lord knows she'd kept one or two at their age. Sam was ready to relax, rap Carly on the knuckles again, and forget the whole thing had ever happened, until she heard.

Carly was shouting.

"Sam! Sammmm… _Sammmm!_

_"… Oh Chizz…"_ Sam thought, _"…this can't be good…"_


	7. iConfide in You

Sam massaged Carly's back gently. She didn't condone Carly snooping, but she understood the feelings that drove the brunette's ill-advised nosiness.

"Carls, you know you shouldn't have done that, Sweetheart…"

She knew. She knew that Sam was right, but she was doing the only thing that made sense at the moment. She knew – in her heart of hearts – that violating her little girl's privacy was a mistake, although, in the moment, the ends seemed to justify the means. Carly simply rocked, safe in Sam's arms.

"…_Mehhh…"_

"Carls…"

"…_mehhh…"_

"C'mon, Cupcake, it can't really be that bad…"

It really _was_ that bad, at least from Carly's point of view. She'd found it in her daughter's top left dresser drawer, hidden beneath unmentionable things, although that was an argument for another day. It took a moment, but Sam's fingers had finally pried the object from Carly's grip.

Sam knew Carly wouldn't like it, but she couldn't help but chuckle. Carly looked to her weakly, not entirely understanding, but knowing deep down that Sam had no intention of hurting her.

"Carls, you're making too much out of this, Babe… you really should let it go… _relax_…"

Carly exhaled deeply, the truth of her wife's subtext finally sinking in. She knew she had overreacted, but what could she do? She was a mom. It was her responsibility – along with Sam – to see that her girls were both prepared for life in the real world, as well as sheltered from it, as best they could be. Carly knew all too well that the world wasn't always sunshine and rainbows. It could be a very mean and nasty place, capable of beating you to your knees permanently if you let it.

Using the skilled slight-of-hand of a jewel thief, Sam Puckett palmed the small jewelry box and slipped it into her pants pocket. Her hand immediately found Carly's waist, supporting her gently.

"C'mon now, Cupcake… how'bout we forget any of this ever happened and you come snuggle with Mama in the living room?"

Sam knew fully well how patronizing she sounded – talking to Carly like a child like that – but she also knew that there were times when her beautiful wife got so whipped up that she simply wasn't thinking clearly. This was one of those times. Sam knew that Carly's intentions were good – she wanted to protect their girls the only way she knew how – by behaving the way the Colonel had in Carly's own youth. Sam couldn't fault her for that. She touched the small of Carly's back gently and led her from the room, shutting the door quietly behind them.

_**MEANWHILE, AT RIDGEWAY HIGH…**_

Bridget Xi was whipped up. She was tired of being perfect all the time. She had had nothing but a straight A average her entire academic life, her mother threatening to disown her otherwise. She knew her mother was far from serious. Their relationship had improved dramatically over the past several months, Karen Xi finally comfortable enough with the situation to wear the rainbow-colored lapel pin Bridget had given her.

The bell woke the pretty Korean girl from her daydream, which she'd spent thinking of life beyond high school, with the pretty blonde girl by her side. All Bridget wanted was life on her terms. Besides, she didn't see any way in the world that life would ever be anything other than the way it had always been. It had always been the four of them – for better or worse.

" 'Sup, Nerd?"

Megan Marx had just flicked Bridget hard in the ear, breaking her concentration. It had taken all of the dainty girl's restraint to lapse into her native Korean before calling the fighter an evil little skunkbag. The redhead kept talking, in hushed enough tones not to be overheard by anyone other than her intended audience.

"Look, I… you know… about that thing before…"

It was clear that Megan could only be decent to her after keeping up the public pretense that they, in fact, hated one another. Bridget smiled, if only to herself. This would always be the game they played in public.

"It's cool, you god-awful Neanderthal…"

Megan chuckled to herself. She knew the way of it. Bridget Xi was to her life what Freddie Benson had been to Sam Puckett. They would nitpick and snipe at each other solely for the sake of it, as though that kept their worlds turning, but the fact of the matter was that they each cared for one another deeply, even though they would never say so, at least not in so many words. Her own thoughts darted back to her own reason for getting up and facing the day every morning – which bore a striking resemblance to what got Bridget out of bed each day. Between her love, her sport, and the world at large, Megan's world was careening out of control – yet she kept it all inside. She whispered to the dainty Korean girl seated at the desk in front of her.

"…_Yo… Nerd…"_

"_I have a name, Goddamn you…"_

"…_Whatever…look… it's kinda… ya know… a thing… can we go someplace after school and just… ya know… talk about some stuff?"_

Bridget Xi rolled her eyes. On the one hand, she had become the prizefighter's confidant. On the other, the redheaded girl grated on her very last nerve. She _wanted_ to dislike Megan on so very many levels, although she knew that she couldn't. She knew, in her heart of hearts, that they were stuck with one another, come whatever may. Searching her soul, Bridget knew that she would never have it any other way. She was simply wired to be an exceptionally brainy daffodil.

_**BACK ON MERCER ISLAND…**_

Samantha Puckett paced the floor of the Benson family living room. She was whipped up and seeking her own answers. Her twin sister, hands on hips, was in the middle of a lecture.

"Oh, for goodness sakes, Samantha, please!"

"You don't _understand…_" Sam whined.

Melanie was flippant.

"_Of course not…_ being identical and all, I would have _absolutely no idea_ what you're going through…"

Sam knew she was being ridiculous. She was about at the end of her tether – between Carly, the girls, and life in general.

"_Mel…_"

Melanie Benson held her sister close, barely giving her room enough to breathe in her own air.

"Sam, just _hush_… you worry too much. It's not like Carly or the girls will disappear tomorrow if you haven't gotten this all sorted out just so…"

"I suppose you're right…"

"Of course I am… I'm your big sister…"

"By _like a minute_…"

"Still older…" Melanie smiled brightly. She enjoyed lording her birth status over Sam when they had their silly little _disagreements_.

"You want an ice-cold buttersock to the head?"

The twin sisters laughed. Things were alright again.

_**NEXT DOOR…**_

The phone rang in Carly's ear. She didn't know if she was in the right here or not, but it was the only thought in her head.

"…_Hello?..."_

"Wendy? It's Carly… Can we talk? It's important…"


	8. iSage Advice

Wendy shook, but on the inside. While Carly fell to pieces, life at Shelby's side had given Wendy the intestinal fortitude to hold herself together – somewhat.

"…_Uh huh… Uh huh… Uh huh… Carly… are… are you sure?..."_

Wendy immediately regretted it. This was the final turn that the screw inside Carly needed to go from Zero to All Whipped Up. She was going at a mile-and-a-half a minute. Had Sam been home, she would no doubt have snickered at the sheer cuteness of her Cupcake going around the twist, all the while being the strong, supportive spouse that she knew Carly needed.

"Wendy, you don't understand… I found it in her dresser drawer… under her… you know… _unmentionables_…"

Carly's redheaded friend chuckled on the other end of the line.

"_Carly, we're probably reading more into it than need be… they're just kids…"_

Even Wendy didn't believe that last bit, although she was intent on selling it as best she could. It was important. If she could sell it to Carly, she could keep up appearances and continue believing what she told herself.

Carly sighed.

"You're probably right, Wendy… They don't know what a long-term relationship is really like… _not really_…"

Wendy knew fully well that Carly was doing her very best to convince herself of something she knew to be false. They all knew – Carly, Wendy, Sam, and Shelby alike – that it would take the Jaws of Life to pry their children away from one another. It wasn't ideal by anyone's estimation, though they knew _they_ didn't get to decide. It hadn't been ideal for Carly's father, the Colonel, either, to acknowledge that Carly loved differently. Carly, Sam, Wendy, and Shelby, however, had known for years – whether they wanted to admit it to themselves or not – that there would be no separating the sassy blonde and the short-tempered redhead. They knew it would be as much a fools' errand as the Colonel's attempts years ago to intervene in Carly's love life.

Wendy stuttered on the other end of the line, if only for the briefest moment. Her thoughts had gone slightly fuzzy. She was distracted.

"…_Uh, Carly… Can we talk later? Gotta… um… We'll talk tonight…"_

The two friends said their polite goodbyes as Wendy's attention drifted off. It was somewhere between the talk show playing on the radio in the kitchen and the little girl toddling around in the living room, intermittently babbling _"Mommy!"_ Wendy knew her life was good; she simply needed to get a handle on it before Shelby came home for the evening.

_**MEANWHILE, IN DOWNTOWN SEATTLE…**_

Doctor Niles Crane sat behind the desk. He had inherited what he termed _'his little hobby', _a three-hour stretch on KACL-780 AM during the afternoon rush hour, when his brother had relocated to Chicago.

"Whom do we have…?"

"…_On line 3, we have Wendy from Mercer Island, who's concerned about her daughter…"_

The doctor sipped his water glass. As mercilessly as he'd lampooned his older brother for his radio program, he had been truly touched to have been named as his successor.

"Wendy… you're on the air, now _let's get better_…"

Wendy Marx paced the kitchen, cell phone to her ear.

"Long time listener, first time caller…"

"…and what seems to be the problem, Wendy?..."

"It's my daughter, she's a senior in high school, and she's recently gotten very serious…"

The good doctor jumped to the logical, inescapable conclusion – the type of thing he heard in his private practice no less than three days a week.

"…involved with a young man you disapprove of?..."

Wendy could barely stifle the amusement in her voice. Try as she might, she knew it was apparent.

"No, no… it's not that… she's… well, she's involved with someone I'm incredibly fond of. It's simply… how young is _too young_?"

The buttoned-down doctor sipped from his water glass again. In a situation such as this, his patients had, generally speaking, made up their own minds and were simply seeking validation of their own opinions.

"Well, Wendy… that's entirely subjective… you've said she's a senior in high school, so I'm presuming she's in that gray area between being your child and being, legally speaking, an adult…"

Wendy's pause spoke volumes.

"Well… yes… she does have a birthday coming up…"

The doctor split the difference. He was a parent himself, but he gave her the safest advice his ethics would allow.

"You're her mother. Have a pointed, but fair conversation about your concerns, all the while keeping an open mind. Check back next week and let me know how things went, will you?"

To Wendy, it sounded like a cop-out, but she knew that it was as rational an answer as she could expect. She also knew that once Shelby got home, Megan would be in for the stern talking-to of her young life.

"Sure, Doctor Crane, thanks…"

Wendy ended the call and returned her attention to her kitchen, where there was cooking to be done and a small person to be looked after.

_**THE GROOVY SMOOTHIE, LATER THAT AFTERNOON…**_

Bridget Xi had done what she'd needed to do. She knew her girlfriend was less than happy with her right now, however, there were times – granted, not very many – when other things took precedence over the Chess Club. She ended her phone call abruptly upon seeing Megan Marx walk through the door. The pretty girl wasn't her typical, reserved self. She realized that she was here to help, but she was chizzed off, nonetheless. She glared across the table, dark eyes boring into the redhead's skull. She had reason to be angry. She was tired of being a good person, at the expense of her own personal happiness. She spoke, angry and clipped, but still in the gentle way that was hers. Angry though she may have been, she couldn't bring herself to cause a scene.

"You're a little skunkbag, you know that, right?"

Megan sighed. It was probably exactly what she deserved, but she wasn't here for a fight. She was, pound-for-pound, the most lethal woman in her sport. She could handle broken bones and was okay with the metallic taste of blood. What she couldn't handle was the thought of life without the pretty blonde girl she'd loved all of her life – the curvaceous, spunky blonde girl who professed her sleepy love in Italian before they both drifted off to sleep at night.

Megan's plump lower lip quivered. Bridget knew how this worked, though the champion typically didn't fall to pieces in public like this. She didn't want to lecture her, although she didn't need a genius-level IQ to know that Megan was being irrational.

"Look, you're being pretty goddamned stupid for a smart girl…"

Megan smiled weakly.

"_You_ think I'm smart?"

Bridget's long, slender fingers reached across the table, momentarily intertwining with the fighter's. It was weird and not at all her intention. Bridget did her best to rap Megan on her swollen, battle-scarred knuckles.

"You must really have taken a few kicks to the head and be pretty goddamned stupid if you haven't realized by now that she loves you…"

Bridget didn't really mean to curse and tried to be discreet, but she felt she had to make a point.

"…but you think that somehow, magically college changes everything?"

Megan didn't know what to say, although she knew – for the first time in a week – that she felt better. The Little Egg Roll was talking sense. Brown eyes locked with dark ones.

"Hey, Look… I'm… ya know… it's…"

Bridget Xi smiled. In her heart of hearts, it felt good to help Megan – even though Bridget knew it would be a nonissue, if only Megan Marx knew how to listen to reason and was capable of applying logic to an admittedly logical situation. Bridget's analytic mind saw this as a problem with but one solution and she had offered hers readily.

Megan Marx, for her part, was feeling far more normal, now that the panic had subsided. She figured that, since they were here, they might as well enjoy themselves. She took the liberty of ordering smoothies for the both of them and sat back in her chair as though nothing had ever happened.


	9. iLose Myself In The Night

Sam Puckett stamped off in the direction of the master bedroom. For the first time in years, she was throwing a tantrum.

_"…Sammmm…"_

Shrieking followed. Carly, acutely aware that she had caused this, did her best to return things to an even keel, following close behind.

_"…Sammmm… Honeyyyy… please listen…"_

Sam was tired of listening. She loved Carly more than words, but she was emotionally worn out. She turned on her heel in the middle of the hall, nearly knocking the brunette off balance. They locked eyes intently. Sam's brain told her she needed to make Carly understand. Her heart knew that Carly already did. Her tone was clipped and gruff, but it was the Sam Puckett that Carly had fallen in love with long ago.

"I'm goin' out… I'll be back later… I love you…"

The blonde kissed her on the mouth – deeply and hard – as though it could very well be the very last time.

"I love you…"

Carly knew. This had happened before, though not in years. She knew that Sam would be back.

"I know…"

Carly knew that Sam had problems, no matter how hard she tried to hide them. She knew that life with Pam Puckett as a mother had left her beautiful blonde with a complex. She was secure in Sam's love for her. When their mouths separated, Carly let Sam leave. She knew Sam had to deal with things on her own terms. Now out of sight, Carly could hear Sam's leather jacket being snatched from its usual place beside the front door, followed by an abrupt slam.

With that – a hurricane of controlled blonde rage – Sam Puckett was gone, leaving Carly to her thoughts, if not quite alone.

**_MEANWHILE, A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY…_**

Shelby Marx was less than thrilled, but she bounced her little girl in her lap. The toddler clapped happily. Shelby adored being a parent. Here, behind closed doors, she could be herself. The real Shelby Marx – the one who enjoyed mint chocolate chip ice cream, spoke fluent Spanish, enjoyed jazz, and was disturbed by raisins – resided here, her wife at her side.

The former champion was occupied giving long-overdue kisses to her little girl when a vibrating cell phone and Wendy, well-meaning if a little high-strung, piped up.

_"Oh….dear…."_

Shelby knew that tone. It was the tone Wendy took when sense had gone out of her head and she was again the mother hen who had to fix _everything_. She shot the redhead a serious look. Words weren't needed, just an arched eyebrow. Wendy continued.

"It's Carly… She and Sam… well, it wasn't a _fight_, but Sam just stormed out all upset…"

Shelby's jaw clenched. She knew this had to do with two willful, bullheaded, lovesick teenagers who had yet to come home. Shelby knew what to do. She knew fully well that Sam Puckett was a great many things – good, kind, decent, strong, bullheaded in her own right, and viciously loyal, even to a fault – but she also knew that if Sam found their girls wandering the streets of their beloved Seattle before she'd gotten this pent-up angry bitterness out of her system, there'd no doubt be hell to pay. Without a word, she lifted the wiggly little girl from her lap, kissed her on the cheek, and passed her to Wendy.

Shelby's chair pushed away from the table with enough of a rush and significant amount of noise to scare Wendy, if only for a second. The trademark Shelby Marx Tunnel Vision was back. The fighter bounced to her feet quickly, breaking for the door.

"…I'm going out…"

Wendy was worried.

"When will you be back?"

"…_Later_…"

Shelby grabbed her jacket, bounded out the door, and was gone. Wendy knew Shelby loved her. Shelby's motorcycle roared to life, tires squealing. Wendy knew Shelby would be careful, for her sake, but she also knew that her love had a reckless streak in her rivaled only by Sam Puckett herself.

**_A SHORT TIME LATER…_**

Sam Puckett pocketed her keys and threw open the heavy door. She wasn't a juvenile delinquent anymore, though being this close to the Seattle PD still caused the hair on her neck to stand on end.

She flipped the switch, illuminating the space from the fluorescent light overhead. She never bothered to tell Carly that she spent nearly six hundred dollars a month to keep this space. It simply didn't matter. She paid for it out of Uncle Carmine's money, so, she figured, why bother worrying the Cupcake's pretty little head about it?

Surveying the room, it was exactly as she needed it to be. She hadn't been here in a good while, but everything was in its proper place.

_"…That's clearly a two-person job, to do it right, I mean… Ya sure ya don't need a little help?..."_

A chill ran through Sam Puckett's spine. She spun around immediately, glaring at her longtime friend. She had, as she was prone to do, jumped to the absolutely wrong conclusion. She rambled.

"You _fucking followed me_ here? Carly send you to track me down?"

Shelby Marx swallowed hard, looking from her friend to the floor before answering honestly.

"You're an idiot, Sam…"

Sam's jaw was loose, as though she'd just been slapped. She had that look that Shelby knew well – the look of someone just itching for a fight, no matter what the odds or outcome. Sam spoke as bluntly and as matter-of-factly as ever.

"Yeah, well, fuck you too…"

The insult rolled off Shelby's back like water.

"Look… Carly texted Wendy all… _you know, girly and whatever_… and I knew you were in one of your fuckin' moods again, and I figured this'd be the first stupid-ass place you'd come…"

The tension lifted, if only for a second, before Sam began ranting again.

"It's all because of the damn… the damn kids…"

Shelby shot her friend a quizzical look.

"Ya think I'm fuckin' thrilled about it? I'd knock her right in the damn head, if I could…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… which one you talkin' about there, Champ?..."

Sam Puckett may have been pissed at the world, but friend or no, there were lines that even the great Shelby Marx couldn't cross.

"Mine, not yours…"

Sam chuckled.

"She'd probably knock you on your ass in the process, Champ…"

Shelby laughed.

"You're probably right…"

The two old friends clasped hands in a show of unity, which subsequently evolved into as butch a hug as they could muster. While Carly completed Sam's entire world, there was something to be said for Shelby Marx. She was there when it counted.

**_MEANWHILE, AT BUSHWELL PLAZA…_**

Megan Marx had to be having the worst day of her life. She had come here simply because she was at the end of her rope and had nowhere else to go. She knew she was being a stub rag, so she wanted to do her best to give Ashley her own space. School had been an abject disaster, and she had gone to the Puckett house that evening only to find half the adults and the wrong blonde. She'd tried the Elliott Bay Towers, only to be cursed at in Korean. She now found herself here.

She made her way from the elevator, rounded the corner, and finally, at the door leading to Apartment 8-C. She banged impatiently with a closed fist, much the way Sam Puckett had at her age.

On the fourth banging knock, the door swung open to reveal Spencer Shay. Megan interrupted him just as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Sup? My girl here?"

The artist was too flustered to answer her until the young girl had barged her way into the apartment, crossed the living room, and was now rifling the fridge.

"…She's upstairs, in Carly's old room…"

Megan slammed the refrigerator door shut and bolted for the stairs, a slice of cheese pizza now hanging from her lips. Spencer, intent on enjoying what had begun as a quiet evening at home, had settled back in on the sofa with his longtime lady-love, Veronica. He paid attention to the teenager on the stairs only long enough to lecture her in his own way.

"…_YOU'RE WELCOME… NOT LIKE WE HAD PLANS OR ANYTHING…"_

**_UPSTAIRS…_**

Ashley Puckett jumped slightly as she heard the knob turn. She had been crying. She really didn't feel like any undue attention at the moment. She had been as polite as she could, but really didn't want to hear somebody else's opinions right now, no matter how much she loved them. Right now, all she wanted was to see one person.

_"…I don't want to talk about it, Auntie Veronica…"_ she said without looking.

Megan slunk into the room quietly, secretly relishing the ability to surprise the pretty blonde girl.

"Boo…"

Ashley Puckett whipped around at the sound of the familiar voice, no longer burying her face in a blue pillow that read _'CHURCH PANTS_'. They didn't need words. The lean, muscular redhead simply folded the blonde girl into her arms and held her. They would talk later.

**_BACK ON MERCER ISLAND…_**

Carly knew, in her heart of hearts, that Sam would be back. She rocked quietly in the recliner, though not as severely as she otherwise might. She adjusted her reading glasses and sipped her coffee. Unbeknownst to her, Sam had replaced Carly's usual blend with decaf. Carly could certainly do without the excess agitation tonight. It wasn't until her daughter spoke that Carly remembered that Melanie and Bridget were in the house.

"She'll be home soon, Mommy… it'll be okay…"

Carly responded without even thinking.

"…She's left _the room_ before… but not… _not like this…_"

It wasn't until Carly looked up from her novel that she realized she had teenagers on either side of her. Bridget Xi was here, along with her own daughter, to buoy her spirits. The petite Korean girl spoke.

"Sam loves you, Missus Puckett…"

Without thinking, Bridget Xi leaned in and kissed Carly Puckett gently on the cheek, as she did with her own mother. Carly blushed, but the simple, innocent gesture had done what Carly needed. The random, panic-stricken feeling had died in her chest. She was comfortable again.

**_DOWNTOWN SEATTLE…_**

Sam and Shelby had finished their busywork and left the building. Sam had made it back to her SUV, Shelby to her bike. The champion piped up, already knowing the answer Puckett would give her. It was an exercise in futility, but she felt the need to ask anyway. In all their years of friendship, it had become something of a running inside joke.

"Ya know, that bike of yours really is cherry, Puckett…"

"…still can't have it, Marx..."

Shelby chuckled. Of course she couldn't.

"…I'll pay you five times what it's worth – and it's worth a small fortune as-is…"

Sam and Shelby had spent the last three hours meticulously tinkering with the jet black '64 Sterling to keep it in pristine condition and working order as well as to keep the blonde's idle hands busy with something productive, rather than allow her to focus on her anger. They tinkered with the bike a few times a year, Sam occasionally taking it for a spin, but typically leaving it right where it was – behind lock and key on Thirteenth Avenue, adjacent from Seattle's Finest.

"C'mon, Champ… sentimental value… you _know_ you're never gettin' that bike…"

They let the matter drop.

**_A SHORT WHILE LATER, BACK ON MERCER ISLAND…_**

Carly felt something more like herself now that her home was once again filled with teenagers. She was very unhappy with Ashley and Megan, though she knew that she herself had violated her daughter's privacy in the first place. Carly did her best to be the cool mom, calling Mrs. Xi to confirm that Bridget and Melanie had indeed been studying all evening, assuring her that Bridget would be home, safe and sound, before too long. She subsequently called Wendy, informing her that her violent little rogue of a daughter had turned up as well, like a lost little puppy.

She had no sooner ended the call than Carly heard the familiar sound of Sam's car outside.

_"…Oh, shit…"_

Carly glared at her eldest daughter. Ashley immediately bit her tongue. She knew she shouldn't have. The high-RPM whine of a motorcycle outside further complicated matters.

_"…Dammit!..." _Megan Marx cursed under her breath. Bridget Xi couldn't resist. She took a pot-shot at the redhead simply because.

_"…Oooh, your Mommy's here…"_

**_A FEW SHORT MOMENTS LATER…_**

"Cupcake! I'm home…"

Carly loved Sam, but insisted on remaining mad at her, if solely on principle. She spoke through gritted teeth.

"… In here, Samantha… and by the way, _your daughter_ finally decided to wander in…"

Sam bypassed the peg typically reserved for her jacket. She made her way into the living room, where she locked eyes with the smaller, younger version of herself. She spoke through clenched teeth of her own, simply to underscore the seriousness of the moment.

_"Oh… you're so goddamned grounded, Little Girl…"_

Megan Marx gently dropped her girlfriend's hand. She had loved Ashley Grace Puckett all of her life, but the simple fact was that Sam Puckett still possessed the ability to scare the hell out of her on occasion. She stood up, making a feeble attempt to excuse herself.

Shelby Marx's voice rang out from just inside Carly and Sam's front door, her motorcycle helmet temporarily residing on the peg where Sam would normally place her coat.

"…_Oh no you don't, Megan Marx… you're sittin' your ass right down next to her while I figure out what I'm doing with you… THEN we're having a nice long chat…"_

In the commotion, Melanie and Bridget decided that it was in their collective best interests to fade into the background. Three on two were not good odds, but they both knew that there was nothing they could do; both girls were in the wrong and deserved the lecture that they had coming. Melanie gave her sister's hand a gentle squeeze in passing before they left the room, simply to show, in her own small way, that she didn't wish her sister any undue pain or embarrassment. They both knew they'd talk later, in whispers, as they always did. It had been one hell of a night, and the only way to deal with the present situation – unpleasant as it was – was to face it head on, come whatever may.

It'd be another long night.


	10. iThink I See The Light

It had already been a very long, panic-inducing evening for Carly. She was finally coming down from the rush of endorphins and adrenaline, settling in on her side of the bed with her book.

She had come to realize tonight that she wasn't ready to be the mother of teenagers embarking on their own lives, but she knew that, realistically, she had no say in the matter.

_**EARLIER THAT EVENING…**_

Carly had offered to drive Bridget home simply out of kindness and force of habit. The trip was always the same; Carly had driven it so many times, she could likely do the trip in her sleep. They always made polite small talk, Carly asking politely about Bridget's biological family in Korea, Bridget asking Carly the questions she felt uncomfortable asking her own mother. Bridget, being modest in her own way, avoided the 'racy' subject of relationships, for fear of making Carly uncomfortable. Crossing the bridge into the City of Seattle proper, the normally quiet girl spoke up.

"Ummm, excuse me, Missus Puckett?..."

Carly blushed. Without even thinking, she responded a touch too quickly, bypassing the internal censor between her brain and vocal chords.

"Oh, for heaven's sake… you _can_ call me by my first name, you know…"

Slightly embarrassed, the slight girl bowed her head, speaking into her lap.

"Yes maam…"

Carly had to chuckle.

"Oh, for the love of cryin' out loud… what's on your mind?"

Bridget herself had to laugh. What was on her mind was serious and important, but she didn't know if she had the right to say anything – it was other people's business. After a brief pause, she spoke up, still nervous she was speaking out of turn.

"Ummm… about… you know… _tonight_…"

"Yes?"

Bridget nervously chewed her bottom lip. She didn't want to feel like she was betraying a confidence.

"Don't come down too hard on them… I know you're a mom, but… I'm just…"

Bridget choked up, if only for a second.

"…it's not what you think… not exactly…"

Carly didn't exactly follow, although she knew a thing or two about being a teenaged girl.

"How do you mean, Honey?"

Bridget wrung her hands in her lap. She was now muttering nervously to herself.

"…Oh, she'll punch me right in the head…_right in the head_…"

Carly patted the small girl's knee with her free hand as her SUV idled at a stoplight where Fifth Avenue met Mercer.

"No one will do any such thing… now, what's _exactly_ on your mind?"

It was in exactly that moment, illuminated only by stars and overhead street lamps, that Carly realized that Bridget Xi was not the little girl she remembered. She was no longer twelve years old. She was still rail-thin with no discernible curves to speak of, still a hair under five feet tall and perhaps ninety pounds soaking wet, but it dawned on her for the first time that this girl was, in fact, on the verge of womanhood. She spoke again, sounding ever-so-much like a mom.

"It's okay, Sweetheart… you know you can tell me anything…"

Bridget hemmed and hawed, not wanting to betray a confidence.

"Um, uh… just… don't… you know… don't be too hard on them… Megan's kind of impulsive, but she means well…"

Carly didn't quite understand, but she allowed Bridget to continue. She knew that the young girl was privy to information that she herself didn't have, but desperately wanted.

"…Don't let Sam and Missus Marx be too hard on them… I told her that you guys would get the wrong idea if she gave Ashley that ring, but does she ever listen to me? _No… that'd make too much sense… Don't listen to the girl who gets straight A's… make your own damn decisions, you red-headed idiot…"_

Carly giggled as though she was a teenager again. Bridget's rambling certainly did make sense – Carly _had_, of course, grown up with Sam. She believed she had an idea of what was going on here, so she felt secure in offering up her own estimate of the situation.

"So that ring _is_…?"

Bridget blurted out the truth, as though she'd been dying to shout it from the top of the Space Needle.

"…she's insecure and thought your daughter wouldn't love her anymore once we got to college…"

Had she not been traveling through the misty Queen Anne at thirty miles an hour, Carly's free hand would have instinctively smacked into her forehead.

"…_Oh, for goodness sakes…"_

They both had lost track of where they were, wrapped up in their conversation. It only dawned on Bridget that it was time to go when the car came to a stop in front of Elliott Bay Towers, here on the counterbalance. She undid her seatbelt, grabbed her books, and spoke so meekly that it sounded much more like a whisper.

"Thanks for the ride, Missus…"

Carly interrupted.

"_Carly…_ it's okay that you call me Carly…"

Even in the dark, the brunette could tell that Bridget was blushing. She felt slender, dainty hands reaching out in the darkness, grasping to pull her into a weak hug. Carly did the most _'Mom'_ thing that she could think of – she simply kissed the small girl on the forehead.

"Alright, you… now upstairs with you before your mother has you declared missing…"

Bridget giggled. She knew her mother was certainly capable of that.

_**A SHORT WHILE LATER…**_

Carly maneuvered the car onto Broad Street. She knew she was going out of her way and unnecessarily burning gas, but she didn't care. She had to drive past the Space Needle on her way home. She always used to stare out her bedroom window at Bushwell falling asleep to it – icon of the city she loved. She passed it every day on her way to work, but it wasn't the same. She fidgeted with a button on the console as she drove. She knew it was bit of a gamble, but she didn't care. She needed to talk. At the moment, it sounded as though the _entire car_ was ringing. Her phone call now played out through the speaker system in the dash. The ringing stopped almost immediately.

"…_Hey there, Snug Bug…"_

Carly swallowed hard. Though she and her father had made their peace long ago, it was still difficult for him, Carly knew, to grasp the dynamics of each of these relationships, though he now understood that Carly loved Sam because she was born to love differently – it wasn't something she could _choose to do_.

"Hi, Daddy… um… I need some advice…"

Former Air Force Colonel Steven Shay had no idea what prompted this, but he took a stab in the dark.

"…_What'd Puckett do now? I told you she was a bad influence on you…"_

Carly got huffy. The Colonel, sensing his dry sense of humor had missed the mark, fixed things immediately.

"…_Relax, Carlotta… I was kidding…"_

"Daddy, it's… I'm not ready for them to go off to college and be… you know…"

Steven Shay chuckled on the other end of the line.

"…_Not so easy, is it? They'll be off living their own lives and you can't fix things for them…"_

Carly felt like crying, but kept it all inside. She knew that this was the Colonel's way of being gentle.

"Daddy…"

He had been sober for a very long time. Steven Shay no longer had it in him to hurt anyone – at least not without cause.

"…_Now, Carlotta… look… all I mean is it's not easy to take a step back and let them do it all themselves, is it?..."_

"No Sir…"

He knew she couldn't see, but, in Yakima, Steven Shay was smiling.

"…_Besides, Colorado Springs isn't all that far away… I can make a phone call or two…"_

"DAD! My baby is _NOT_ going to the Air Force Academy!..."

Colonel Shay couldn't help chuckling.

"…_You sure? I was thinking, maybe they could find a place for that Marx girl yet…"_

Carly knew this was her father's way of showing he cared. It was a decent drive back home. She figured she could use the company.


	11. iAm Self Conscious

Carly removed and replaced her reading glasses, massaging her temples. She returned her attention to her book, but could only focus on the sounds coming from the next room. The shower was running.

"…_Carls…"_ Sam called from the other side of the door.

Carly smirked.

"Keep scrubbing, Samantha… you are _not_ getting motor oil on our nice, fresh sheets again…"

The brunette couldn't help but chuckle. She could hear Sam fussing at her through the bathroom door. She stifled a laugh, but responded to her wife's smart-mouthed comment.

"…Oh, you hush, Sam…"

The bathroom door yawned open. Bathrobe-clad Sam Puckett made her way into the room from the master bathroom. Carly was pleased to see that Sam had scrubbed appropriately, removing the last vestiges of grease and motor oil from beneath her fingernails. The blonde could be a perfect little daffodil if properly motivated. She grinned in her wife's direction, thankful the evening was at a close. After the day she'd had, Sam wanted nothing more than to cozy up with Carly and get some well-deserved rest.

_**DOWN THE HALL…**_

Melanie blathered at her sister while staring at the ceiling, her fingers laced together behind her head.

"You're being stupid, you know…"

"Says the genius… You know you've always been the favorite…"

Melanie blushed. She knew very well that her sister was equally bright, though perhaps not as specially gifted in certain subjects. She was well aware that her sister was simply doing her best to get her goat.

"Oh, _do shut up_… you're being ridiculous!"

Ashley inhaled deeply. She knew she was overreacting, but she didn't know what else to do.

"Mel…?"

The quiet blonde rolled her eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Look, I just don't know… Megan…"

Melanie giggled. Sometimes, her sister could be completely oblivious.

"Really? _That's_ what this is all about?"

Much like her Mama, the elder twin jumped to the inescapably wrong conclusion.

"What? I love her…"

Melanie scoffed, however slightly.

"Clearly… now would you just relax a little? I _told you_, it's cool…"

"Yeah, whatever… Easy for you to say, with your early acceptance letter to – …"

"How do you know about that?!"

A sly smile – reminiscent of Sam's – crossed Ashley Puckett's face. She knew. She tortured her sister in the sweet little sing-song voice she'd used since they were kids.

"…_I know what you're hiding… I know what you're hiding…"_

"Stoppit!"

Ashley had meant to tease, not to hurt. All she'd wanted was to give her sister a bit of a hard time.

"Next time you pick a hiding place, try to come up with somewhere _besides_ your underwear drawer… Where you hide letters and little love notes…"

"Those _aren't love notes!_"

"Yeah… whatever… my point is, _normal people_ stash other things in there…"

For the first time in many years, Melanie was glad she and her sister had separate dressers.

"Eww, gross!..."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Nerd…"

The twins let a long moment pass between each other before Ashley swallowed hard and spoke again.

"Mel?"

"Yeah?"

"Mel… I just… look… umm… good night"

Melanie knew her sister all too well.

"I love you too… good night…"

Melanie rolled on her hip, facing her sister's bed. There was so much she wanted to say, though she knew that now wasn't the time. Now was the time to succumb to the heaviness of her own eyelids and allow herself to drift off into the fairy-land that was sleep.

_**MEANWHILE, AT THE ELLIOTT BAY TOWERS…**_

Bridget Xi tossed and turned. Even at seventeen years old, she was a little girl at heart. Her bedroom was an eclectic mish-mash of the adult world with that of her childhood. Lacking her pretty blonde best friend, tonight she held her favorite stuffed animal close. She'd had Mister Frog as long as she could remember and was simply ready to drift off when all hell broke loose. Megan Marx had burst through her front door like a bull in a china shop.

_" WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!"_

The redhead, now framing the doorway to Bridget's bedroom, shrugged nonchalantly.

"I was… ya know… kinda whipped up… kinda needed to talk…"

Exasperated, Bridget lunged for her Pearphone on her bedside table, shaking it in Megan's face.

"_COULD HAVE CALLED, YOU IDIOT… IT'S MIDNIGHT!"_

Megan shrugged, letting all pretense fall away. Bridget could see this was serious chizz. Truth be told, she and Megan were – at long last – becoming friends. Her tone was immediately gentle, none of it mattered anymore.

"Hey… look… it's… whatever… come on, just tell me what's going on…"

Bridget patted the empty side of her mattress – the side she wished was occupied by a pretty blonde girl – and offered it to the redhead. Megan accepted immediately.

"Look… it's… damn… I mean, I love her and stuff, and this is just so damn awkward…"

Bridget knew she had to ask Megan the hard question, though it was a question they both already knew the answer to.

"Megan, look… it's just me… Face it, I've known you since we were like four or whatever. Just be honest with yourself for once… You love her and it scares the hell out of you, doesn't it? College and growing up and whatever else could happen, doesn't it?"

The prizefighter only nodded, weakly, like a little girl. Bridget, in turn, answered her own question.

"I'm scared too. I don't have all the answers in the world, but I know who makes me happy… and that includes you and your headstrong little girly-friend…"

It took a moment for Megan's brain to digest what she'd heard, but it settled in just the same. She spoke, but only briefly.

"So you're saying…?"

Bridget interrupted.

"_Yes,_ you Neanderthal… the four of us work well together… now, would you please shut up, relax, and get some sleep… and _I swear to God_, if you grope me in your sleep again, I'll smother you with your own pillow…"

Megan chuckled.

"Sorry… you're on her side of the bed, so I suppose my brain just assumes…"

"Assume something else. Goodnight…"

_**BACK ON MERCER ISLAND…**_

Melanie Benson couldn't sleep. She was a woman obsessed. She'd pulled the file box marked 'PRIVATE' from her studio, its contents now overflowing the kitchen table and island. Freddie, half asleep, entered from the hallway, rubbing his eyes.

"Mel, baby, come to bed, it's almost one o'clock in the morning, Honey…"

Sam's gorgeous twin sister didn't respond immediately. She sipped her tea and returned her attention to the file material in front of her.

"_Melanie…_"

She turned. He could see she had been crying again.

"_Sweetheart… _Let it go… at least for tonight…"

Mythical Melanie couldn't. She knew too much. She was careful not to raise her voice. She would otherwise have been screaming.

" _I CAN'T LET IT GO! HE WAS – …"_

"I know, Sweetheart… I know he was your – Look, I know, but…"

He stopped. He shut his mouth before words came out that would injure the woman he loved. He took another tack.

"Have you talked to Sam about this at all?"

Melanie scoffed, choking back tears.

"Oh, I can't tell Samantha, Freddie… She couldn't handle it… She doesn't even know who he is… If she did, she'd tear the city apart searching for answers to her own questions..."

Freddie Benson crossed the kitchen floor and took his wife into his arms. For all their differences, Melanie and Sam were fundamentally the same.

"You mean like you're doing right now? Come on, Babe… back to bed with you…"

Melanie kissed him gently.

"I'll be there in a minute. I need to clean this up…"

Freddie exhaled deeply. He knew that whatever her reasons, this was his wife's personal quest.

"Alright… I love you…"

Melanie smiled, albeit weakly.

"I know…"


End file.
